The call came from State House, urgent and unmistakable. Cabinet minister Moody Awori, busy with his day, dropped everything and made his way to the seat of power.
Upon arrival, he was swiftly led through the grand corridors, ushered into the familiar confines of President Kibaki’s office.
The conversation that followed was warm and cordial, as was Kibaki’s way. The two had shared decades of political battles, their friendship dating back to 1947. Awori, three years Kibaki's senior, had walked a similar path through the maze of Kenyan politics.
Both men were devout Catholics, bound not just by politics, but also by faith.
President Mwai Kibaki with Vice-President Moody Awori.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
"Hapa iko kazi," Kibaki said with his characteristic calm after they exchanged greetings.
"Kazi gani?" Awori asked, his curiosity piqued.
Kibaki leaned in, his tone earnest.
"I believe you can help me steer this government, though we are still mourning my dear friend, Kijana Wamalwa."
It was September 2003. Kibaki was battling blood clots after the motor accident, and high blood pressure. On this day, he was set to appoint Awori as Kenya’s vice president to replace the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa. For a month, there was political suspense, as jostling over who President Kibaki should appoint as Kenya’s eighth vice president.
Ford-Kenya’s Musikari Kombo felt entitled thanks to the MOU his party had signed as it joined the National Alliance (NAK). It was this MOU that led to Wamalwa’s appointment. With his death, Kibaki was under pressure to pick another Ford-Kenya stalwart.
By going for the chairman of the Narc Summit, Kibaki hoped to silence the Liberal Democratic Party guns, led by Raila Odinga, which had promised to make Kibaki’s first time hellish, unless he respected the pre-election MOU on power sharing.
At 76, Awori was the oldest Member of Parliament and had already distinguished himself as the chair of the Narc Summit; a high-sounding title for nothing more than a talk-shop. Originally conceived in October 2002 as the coalition’s governing body, the Summit, in the eyes of the LDP, was their potential ace.
President Mwai Kibaki with Vice President Moody Awori.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Led by Awori, George Saitoti, Raila Odinga, and Kalonzo Musyoka, the LDP saw the Summit as a mechanism to exert control over NAK’s influence. On the other side, NAK’s leaders: Kibaki, Wamalwa, Charity Ngilu, and Kipruto Kirwa, staunchly opposed such a reading, guarding their authority fiercely.
For the LDP, the realisation of the Summit’s latent power came swiftly after Kibaki’s controversial Cabinet appointments, which they viewed as a betrayal. They soon identified the Summit as the only tool capable of diminishing the grip of Kibaki’s GEMA confidants.
“The Summit must remain as an advisory council to the President,” they argued, determined to challenge the dominance of the Mount Kenya elite encircling him.
NAK, however, had a vastly different interpretation. In their view, the reins of government lay firmly in the hands of the president, who was not to be influenced by any unelected advisory body.
Though the Summit was, on paper, Narc’s supreme organ, it remained dormant for nine months, sidelined despite LDP’s escalating pressure. Neither their appeals nor their veiled threats could force a meeting.
After Awori’s appointment, there was a brief lull within LDP. After all, one of their own was a heartbeat from the presidency. But there was disappointment. Expectations had been high that Kibaki might name Raila Odinga as Vice-President, a move that could have quelled the ongoing unrest over the elusive Prime Ministership. A month earlier, August 2003, tensions within Narc had reached a boiling point.
The LDP, indignant and restless, had publicly demanded the immediate enforcement of the Memorandum of Understanding. At the core of their insistence was Odinga’s appointment as Prime Minister, a position they deemed his birthright, despite the constitutional review being far from complete. But President Kibaki, in his usual unyielding manner, swiftly dismissed the notion as an impossibility.
Former Vice President Moody Awori in this picture taken at his home in Nairobi on April 28, 2017.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Equally ambitious was Kalonzo Musyoka, who had hoped for the role but was left disappointed. Again, Awori quickly emerged as a unifying figure, and it soon became clear that his loyalties leaned more toward Kibaki than Odinga.
By picking Awori, Kibaki was dividing the LDP.
Finally, in December 2003, NAK consented to reconstitute the Summit, but in a masterstroke of political manoeuvring, they diluted its authority by filling its ranks with pro-NAK figures. To further neutralise it, Kibaki himself withdrew from its proceedings, ensuring that the Summit would remain toothless and unable to impose its will on the presidency.
As vice president and as chairman of the Narc Summit, Awori looked powerful. But he was a mere paper tiger. Amid this struggle for influence, a larger question loomed over the coalition: was Narc a single political entity, or merely an umbrella for disparate parties? This unresolved debate deepened the fractures within the coalition, with each faction championing its own vision of what Narc was, and what it could become.
Before he became a VP, Awori was the Minister for Home Affairs and had been asked to reform the prisons. Kibaki had told him: “A nation is judged by the way it treats its prisoners.” Determined to bring change, Awori set out to reform the prison system, focusing on the treatment of both the wardens and the incarcerated. Within months, Awori had initiated changes, and the Narc regime looked different.
Though the coalition had promised a new constitution within 100 days, the pledge was entangled in the MOU wars. Again, just as Awori settled into his new role, scandal struck. In Between May and June of 2004, public outrage erupted when KANU MP Maoka Maore exposed a staggering fraud.
Awori’s ministry was rocked by allegations of a multi-billion shilling passports scandal, with calls for his resignation echoing through the corridors of power. Kibaki watched from a distance as his vice president was put through the political wringer, forced to defend himself in Parliament over a dubious multi-billion-shilling passports contract revealed by Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore.
Soon, it became known as the Anglo-leasing scandal, after the phantom British tender company. David Mwenje, notorious for his takedown of Dr Josephat Karanja, was rallying MPs for a showdown with Awori. The deal was riddled with irregularities, including grossly inflated costs, the violation of procurement protocols, and the shocking discovery that the supplying company did not legally exist.
To some, it was a chance to showcase the LDP wing as corrupt. Also, beneath lay a deeper struggle, a war for dominance in Western Kenya. Awori’s rival, Ford Kenya chairman Musikari Kombo, was vying for influence. Ford Kenya felt entitled to the VP position, claiming it was part of the deal laid out in the elusive Memorandum of Understanding. If the Anglo-leasing scandal brought down Awori, the VP position would be up for grabs.
In Parliament, Awori found himself in frequent clashes with Norman Nyagah, the Parliamentary Chief Whip chosen from the NAK wing. Nyagah, a staunch defender of Kibaki, accused Awori of being manipulated by Odinga’s LDP faction. Though Awori held the title of Leader of of Government Business, Nyagah always challenged his authority, insisting that he, as Chief Whip, was the rightful convener of Parliamentary Group meetings.
On June 30 2004, President Mwai Kibaki announced his first major government reshuffle, a political chess move that many anticipated would mark a turning point. The country, weary of a divided cabinet, stalled constitutional reforms, and burgeoning evidence of state corruption; expected bold, decisive action.
But Kibaki, ever the tactician, took a more measured approach. Contrary to predictions, none of the LDP ministers were dismissed. Instead, Kibaki expanded his government, welcoming 18 new faces, including MPs from FORD-People and Kanu.
As more scandals unfolded, the Law Society of Kenya filed a private suit against Awori, Amos Wako and Finance Minister Daudi Mwiraria over the passports and forensic laboratory deals. But Wako took over the case and terminated it (just as he had done under Moi).
The crafting of a new Constitution was where deep fault lines emerged. Though publicly framed as debates over specific clauses, the true battle lay in control over the constitution-making process. Two factions had surfaced, splitting along the old divisions of the National Alliance of Kenya (NAK) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
As President Kibaki advanced his Wako Draft, a referendum pitting "Yes" against "No" became the first true test of his presidency, at a time when his popularity had severely waned. The Wako Draft was defeated and Kibaki was in a quandary.
On November 23, 2005, in a historic move never before seen in Kenya's mid-term history, Kibaki dissolved the entire government. Faced with the possibility of elections, which he knew the NAK faction would almost certainly lose, Kibaki embarked on a brilliant political gambit. In an unprecedented sweep, he dismissed all but three: himself, Vice President Moody Awori, and Attorney General, Amos Wako.
Awori's loyalty to Kibaki came at a heavy price. By aligning with Kibaki, he effectively distanced himself from the LDP and the burgeoning Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Among ODM circles, Awori was branded a traitor, and in the elections that followed, the party sought his downfall. They fielded Dr Paul Otuoma, who successfully ousted Awori, pushing him out of politics altogether. His unwavering alliance with his old Mang'u High School friend, Kibaki, cost him dearly.
Yet, Awori’s tenure was marred by significant discord. When the post-election violence of 2007-2008 erupted, it cast a harsh light on the volatile landscape he had navigated as vice president. His time in office, shaped by allegiances and rifts, stands as a testament to the complex and fraught nature of Kenya's political terrain. It was a rough tenure – he rode a tiger.
There is more on this series of Curse of the Deputy Presidents. Here are the links incase you missed it:
